MPIBA Show to Offer Tech Demos, Expanded Kids' Program & More

The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA) will welcome stores from Texas and Oklahoma (previously members of the disbanded Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association) to its Fall Trade Show, to be held from Thursday, September 14, through Sunday, September 17, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center in Denver. The show will feature expanded programming for children's booksellers, demonstrations of technology critically important to successful bookselling, author events, and panels on everything from public relations to corporate and school sales.

"We are looking forward to meeting with our new members from Texas and Oklahoma -- we've added 28 to 30 news stores," said MPIBA Executive Director Lisa Knudsen. "We are encouraging our new member stores to come, along with new employees from existing member stores, through our scholarship program. With $10,000 in scholarships, we can offer new stores and individuals who have never attended an MPIBA trade show funds for a hotel room and tickets to either of the author events."

Knudsen noted, "We have added a lot of children's programming this year, thanks to the addition of Valerie Koehler of Blue Willow Books in Houston, Texas. We're lucky to have her as one of our new members from Texas, and she is in charge of our children's programming."

The American Booksellers Association will offer informational sessions and demonstrations of the Above the Treeline software and the Constant Contact e-mail management service, as well as the educational session "Know Your Customer: Increase Sales" at the show.

The ABA booth on the trade show floor will provide booksellers with the opportunity to meet with ABA staff and to learn about the association's products and services. Information will be available about the Winter Institute, to be held in Portland, Oregon, on February 1 - 2, 2007, the Book Sense marketing program, and much more. In addition, there will be demonstrations of the ABA Book Buyer's Handbook and Constant Contact. ABA staff and Board members Cathy Langer of Denver's Tattered Cover and Gayle Shanks of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, will be available to discuss any issues of concern to members.

ABA member booksellers who stop by the booth and drop off a business card will be eligible to win prizes. In a random drawing, ABA will award a color inkjet printer. The printer winner will then be entered into a grand prize drawing with the eight printer winners from the other fall trade shows. The grand prize winner will be awarded airfare to, and up to a three-night hotel stay at, the association's 2007 Winter Institute.

In addition, ABA members will have a chance to win up to a four-night stay at Hotel ABA in Brooklyn for BookExpo America 2007 in New York City, compliments of BEA. Booksellers can enter the drawing for the BEA prize at the ABA booth.

ABA is asking all member booksellers at this year's shows to participate in the formulation of the association's next Five-Year Strategic Plan by filling out a strategic planning survey. Surveys will be available in the ABA booth.

ABA's education sessions are free to all show attendees. The sessions, which will be held at the Aspen Amphitheatre on Thursday and Friday, September 14 and 15, are:

• Above The Treeline: An Introduction -- Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
  Presented by John Rubin, Above The Treeline's Creator
  Above the Treeline is an online software product designed to help bookstores improve finances by optimizing inventory selection. This introductory session will provide booksellers with a demonstration of the product and basic information, including details of the special discount for ABA member booksellers. This session is designed for booksellers who are not current Above The Treeline users.
  
  
• Constant Contact Demonstration -- Thursday, 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
  Presented by Kristen Gilligan, Associate Director of Programming, ABA Booksellers are increasingly using new technologies such as websites, blogs, and e-mail to communicate with their customers, to further their marketing goals, and to drive traffic to their stores. This session will demonstrate Constant Contact, a service facilitating the creation, mailing, and tracking of e-mail marketing campaigns. Booksellers will get an overview of what the service offers, how to create an actual e-newsletter, how to manage subscriber lists, and how to check status reports, which show, among other features, how many people opened the e-mail.
  
  
• Know Your Customer: Increase Sales, Friday, 9:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Presented by Len Vlahos, BookSense.com Director and Education Director, ABA
  According to Gartner Research, businesses "that fail to establish strong relationships with their customers will see their position eroded by up to 20 percent per year." A bookseller's single greatest asset is not a lease, a computer, or even inventory, it's the store's list of customers. Attendees will learn how individual contact, surveys, market research, and use of the store database can combine to form an effective strategy for communicating with customers. Effective communication will help a bookseller identify and achieve objectives that will grow the business and make the store more profitable.

  Additionally, on Thursday and Friday, the trade show registration area will feature demonstrations of Above The Treeline and Constant Contact, as well as "Getting Started With a Website." Times will be posted at the Registration Area, and no appointments are necessary.

On Thursday, programming begins at 8:00 a.m. with a breakfast with Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale, author of the new novel, River Secrets (Bloomsbury). Anne Holman from The King's English in Salt Lake City will host the event.

Also Thursday morning (9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.), preceding the Above The Treeline and Constant Contact sessions will be "Essential Technologies: An Overview," moderated by MPIBA President Catherine Weller of Salt Lake City's Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore, and featuring panelists Carl Lennertz of HarperCollins and ABA's Len Vlahos.

The YA panel and brown bag lunch, "Teen Reading -- Capturing the I and My Generation (Ipods, IMs, and MySpace)," will be held from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. The event, moderated by Valerie Koehler, will feature authors Patricia McCormick, John Smelcer, and Barry Lyga, and publishers' marketing representatives.

ABA's Vlahos and HarperCollins' Lennertz will be part of a panel discussion on "Digital Media Formats and the Independent Bookstore: How Can Bricks-and-Mortar Businesses Be Players in this New Field?" from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Other afternoon sessions will include "Who's Buying That Children's Book?; Marketing to Parents, Grandparents, and other Adult Buyers"; "Independent Bookstore Websites: A Report from Around the Country"; and "Ring Up More Profits: Sell a Children's Book and a Gift."

At 4:30 p.m. following the afternoon sessions, will be the hour-long MPIBA Advisory Council Meeting. A cocktail party, welcoming participants will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Among Friday morning's sessions will be "Public Relations and Your Store" and "Pick of the Lists." Afternoon sessions will include "Business to Business, Corporate & School Sales: Are You Missing Out?"; "Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star"; and three roundtable sessions: graphic novels, author events, and indie publishers.

The MPIBA General Meeting will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., followed by the Author Reception, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. featuring over 25 authors signing their new fall titles. The celebrating continues until 9:00 p.m. with dancing to live music.

Saturday morning programming begins with the Author Breakfast for Literacy. Speakers will include Jane Hamilton, Hampton Sides, and Robin Chotzinoff. Reservations are required; tickets are $35.

From 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., exhibit halls Columbine and Evergreen will be open. Columbine will be closed to booksellers for lunch from noon to 1:00 p.m.; Evergreen will be closed to booksellers from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

From 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. will be an Author Reception, featuring food, cash bar, over 25 authors signing, and the presentation of the Gordon Saull Bookseller of the Year and Sales Rep of the Year awards. Author receptions are fundraisers for MPIBA's Literacy Grant Program. A donation of $2 per book is requested.

On Sunday, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. will be the Children's Author and Illustrator Breakfast featuring the highly honored author/illustrators Jon J Muth and Jim LaMarche. Reservations are required; tickets are $25.

Exhibit Halls will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The show will conclude at 2:00 p.m. following the Cookbook Celebration and Buffet Lunch for Booksellers.

For preregistration, ticket and scholarship information, a full schedule with times and locations, show updates, and publishers' show specials, go to the MPIBA website, www.mountainsplains.org.

ABA is encouraging booksellers to contact ABA staff members prior to the show if they have questions, suggestions, or comments about the association's show offerings. Questions and requests for information about ABA's participation may also be directed to Kristen Gilligan, associate director of programming and constituent groups liaison, at [email protected]. --Nomi Schwartz